Tripadvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) Trading Up 4% – Should You Buy?

Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) traded up 4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $16.17 and last traded at $16.38. 223,497 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 2,202,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on TRIP. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Tripadvisor from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Tripadvisor from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Tripadvisor from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Tripadvisor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Tripadvisor in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Tripadvisor presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.50.

Tripadvisor Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.56 and a 200-day moving average of $15.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 76.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 1.33.

Tripadvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The travel company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $532.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $527.86 million. Tripadvisor had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 1.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Tripadvisor, Inc. will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Tripadvisor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TRIP. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Tripadvisor by 167.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,067,733 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $73,431,000 after buying an additional 3,173,817 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Tripadvisor by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 3,670,063 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $53,179,000 after purchasing an additional 917,689 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Tripadvisor by 53.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,375,868 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $41,364,000 after purchasing an additional 822,712 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Tripadvisor by 679.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 738,731 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $10,911,000 after purchasing an additional 643,963 shares during the period. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tripadvisor by 71.8% during the 3rd quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 1,512,548 shares of the travel company’s stock valued at $21,917,000 after purchasing an additional 632,353 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Tripadvisor

TripAdvisor, Inc operates as an online travel company, primarily engages in the provision of travel guidance products and services worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Brand Tripadvisor, Viator, and TheFork. The Brand Tripadvisor segment offers travel guidance platforms for travelers to discover, generate, and share authentic user-generated content in the form of ratings and reviews for destinations, points-of-interest, experiences, accommodations, restaurants, and cruises.